BERHAMPUR: A bank manager and an assistant district fishery officer (ADFO) were arrested here on Saturday for embezzlement of funds, allocated by the Government for purchase of boats and nets for local fishermen.
They are UCO (Gopalpur branch) Bank Manager V Kanha and ADFO Chintamani Behera. The two have been accused of misappropriation of Rs 1.52 crore that was sanctioned under Rashtriya Krushi Vikash Yojana(RKVY) for procurement of nets and boats for fishermen of the district who were affected by Phailin in 2013.
Sources said 77 fishermen of Gopalpur, NewBuxipalli and New Golabandh were affected in the natural calamity and each of them was identified to get Rs 8.8 lakh for purchasing boat and another Rs 35,000 for net. Accordingly, the Government released the money to the district administration, which deposited it in the UCO bank branch in Gopalpur. The administration placed the order for the requisite number of boats and nets with one Om Shiva Traders in Gopalpur. However, owners of the agency M Damburu and his wife M Sarita swindled the money with the help of Kanha and Behera.